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Mayor ‘pauses’ work on Canary Wharf cycling bridge due to costs

Says project could be replaced by a ‘fast ferry’

A proposed walking and cycling bridge across the Thames between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf has been ‘paused’ after costs escalated. Deputy Mayor for transport, Heidi Alexander, said that the project had now become unaffordable.

Last year 93 per cent of respondents to a consultation supported plans for a new Thames crossing for people on bike and foot, with 85 per cent in favour of Transport for London’s (TfL) favoured option of a navigable bridge.

Details subsequently emerged of a proposal to construct the world’s tallest vertical lift bridge.

Support for the bridge was included in Sadiq Khan’s manifesto at the 2016 mayoral election, but Alexander said that the current midpoint cost estimate for the scheme was £463m and potentially over £600m.

TfL allocated £350m in its business plan.

A spokesperson for the Mayor said: “While the Mayor is investing hundreds of millions of pounds enabling more walking and cycling in East London, the estimated cost of this project has now increased to around half a billion pounds.

“TfL have used all of their expertise to try and lower the costs of a viable new bridge at this site, but it would now cost substantially more than the money allocated in the Business Plan. Pausing work is now the sensible and responsible thing to do to protect the London taxpayer.

“TfL are now exploring options for a new fast ferry at the site that can be used by cyclists and pedestrians, and we continue to use the record amounts being invested in Healthy Streets to make walking and cycling easier and safer across the capital.”

Responding to the news, chair of the London Assembly transport committee, Florence Eshalomi, told SE16.com: “This announcement will be hugely disappointing for Southwark residents who have been enthusiastically supportive of TfL’s plans for the crossing.

“With such a major infrastructure project now on hold, which would be vital to boosting our local economy and opening up our city’s transport links to cyclists and pedestrians, I will be writing to TfL, alongside local councillors, to ask for answers on how the projected costs have risen so significantly.

“This a financial decision, so it must also be remembered that TfL have been placed in an incredibly difficult situation with the Government taking the reckless decision to remove £700 million a year on average from their budget. As result, TfL has now become one of the only transport authorities in the world not to receive a Government operational grant for day-to-day running costs.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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24 comments

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
2 likes

Oddly enough that's what TheRantyHighwayMans blog is about this week

https://therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com/2019/06/open-rotherhithe-tunnel-...

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Bill H | 4 years ago
4 likes

The Silvertown crossing will be be funded by tolls, so the money should be repaid eventually. But how many folk will want to save money by using the existing free to use tunnels?

With that in mind, and remembering that the mayor supposedly wants to discourage motorised traffic, would it be outrageous to suggest repurposing the Rotherhithe tunnel for cyclists and pedestrians only?

 

 

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Bill H | 4 years ago
5 likes

Bill H wrote:

The Silvertown crossing will be be funded by tolls, so the money should be repaid eventually. But how many folk will want to save money by using the existing free to use tunnels?

With that in mind, and remembering that the mayor supposedly wants to discourage motorised traffic, would it be outrageous to suggest repurposing the Rotherhithe tunnel for cyclists and pedestrians only?

Not a bad idea considering most traffic can't fit in it.

Avatar
OldRidgeback replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
2 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

Bill H wrote:

The Silvertown crossing will be be funded by tolls, so the money should be repaid eventually. But how many folk will want to save money by using the existing free to use tunnels?

With that in mind, and remembering that the mayor supposedly wants to discourage motorised traffic, would it be outrageous to suggest repurposing the Rotherhithe tunnel for cyclists and pedestrians only?

Not a bad idea considering most traffic can't fit in it.

That is a really good idea. I hate using the Rotherhithe Tunnel. It's narrow and dangerous in a car or on a motorbike. Changing it to use by cyclists only would be a suitable solution, and the motor traffic issue would be largely addressed by the construction of the new Silvertown Tunnel. Motorists within London meanwhile could switch to using the other existing crossings.

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
1 like

The original blue paint was awful and dangerous, it took a lot of work to develop into anything worthwhile.  I think most of the effort was from Gilligan

Remember Boris's reaction to multiple cyclist deaths in a short time was to crack down on cyclists, not the vehicles doing the actual damage?  And the headphone nonsense?

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
1 like

doubled troubled.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

I love how in government you can just write off xx tens of millions of pounds, because that's better than spending yy further millions...

(Did Alexander Boris Pfeffel Johnson ever answer for handing the garden bridge contract to an old friend of the family, for "how much?" being spent before it was cancelled?)

Avatar
Hirsute replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes

brooksby wrote:

I love how in government you can just write off xx tens of millions of pounds, because that's better than spending yy further millions...

Also known as sunk cost.

I think most of us try not to 'throw good money after bad'.

Avatar
arowland | 4 years ago
0 likes

What does "one of the only transport authorities" even mean? It it the only transport authority in the world not to receive a Government operational grant, or didn't Alex try to find out? Did he mean "one of the few"? How can you tell?

Avatar
arowland | 4 years ago
2 likes

How much sensible, day-to-day cycling infra would half a billion buy? Isn't the mayor just being wise and saving money on a single high-visibility project, especially if a cheaper alternative could be used, when the same resources could transform a huge amount of the roads that cyclists use every day around the capital, and make them safe? This could save lives!

https://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2012/08/the-importance-of-mundane.html

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
5 likes

The Woolwich foot tunnel was built under a contract for £80,000 starting in 1910.  According to on-line inflation-calculators, that would be about £9 million in today's money.

 

I say we find the guys who built that and get them to build a new cycling tunnel.  Should save about £590 million.

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
0 likes

"TfL has now become one of the only transport authorities in the world "

Wot ?

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escalinci | 4 years ago
0 likes

That is a very silly price for even the best bridge I can imagine - it should be head and shoulders better value than the Silvertown tunnel that Khan sadly Okayed. 

If they don't get a free, frequent ferry up and running here quickly and put down more good filtered routes and dedicated space on main roads in the next year, I'm going to have to put a Sian Berry 2020 avatar on. Because this one thing is understandable, but as part of a record and display of priorities, it's miserable.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
4 likes

Don't worry, Boris will fix it as soon as he becomes PM.

Incidentally, does anyone else feel like we're trapped in a very poorly written work of fiction?

Avatar
brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
0 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

Don't worry, Boris will fix it as soon as he becomes PM.

Incidentally, does anyone else feel like we're trapped in a very poorly written work of fiction?

Yes, but I can't decide if its been written by Kafka or Jeffrey Archer... 

(I think the American chapters have been written by James Patterson and his minions/ghost writers)

Avatar
captain_slog | 4 years ago
8 likes

How in heaven's name can it cost half a billion pounds to build a cycle bridge? Or is most of that the lawyers' fees to fight the legal challenges from the NIMBYs?

Actually I'm coming round to the idea of a ferry. It could be roll-on/roll-off with navigable arches along the hull and, ooh, about as long as the Thames is wide. How about that?

Avatar
leaway2 replied to captain_slog | 4 years ago
8 likes
captain_slog wrote:

How in heaven's name can it cost half a billion pounds to build a cycle bridge? Or is most of that the lawyers' fees to fight the legal challenges from the NIMBYs?

Actually I'm coming round to the idea of a ferry. It could be roll-on/roll-off with navigable arches along the hull and, ooh, about as long as the Thames is wide. How about that?

It took £53 Million not to build the London garden bridge.

Avatar
Zjtm231 | 4 years ago
4 likes

Again and again and again Khan's actions speak louder than words. 

 

He couldn't give a flying fig about cycling - all who care about cycling in London should remember that when they vote at the next mayoral elections....

Avatar
zanf replied to Zjtm231 | 4 years ago
1 like

Zjtm231 wrote:

Again and again and again Khan's actions speak louder than words.

He couldn't give a flying fig about cycling - all who care about cycling in London should remember that when they vote at the next mayoral elections....

Watch out, you'll have a certain tosser clutching his pearls telling you to fuck off to the daily mail and making accusiations of your comments being racist and islamophobic.

Avatar
crazy-legs replied to Zjtm231 | 4 years ago
2 likes

Zjtm231 wrote:

Again and again and again Khan's actions speak louder than words. 

He couldn't give a flying fig about cycling - all who care about cycling in London should remember that when they vote at the next mayoral elections....

^^ This. I was quietly optimistic about Sadiq Khan at first but he's one of those dithery, do-nothing mayors. Always around to pop his face into a news bulletin or tweet some positive stuff about whatever happens to be flavour of the day but never actually doing anything. I mean, he seems a decent person, a nice enough guy but he's not exactly leading from the front here.

There were a couple of Cycle Superhighway schemes literally ready to go when he took over as Mayor and he quietly "paused" them for more consultations (read: excuses to cancel them). He's poked around with a couple of "flagship" schemes (Old Street roundabout for example) but done very little of actual worth towards the normal everyday getting around.

Sadly that's the same with a lot of politicians though. They're all super keen for the big fancy stuff (Garden Bridges, cable cars, huge tunnels) but when it comes to the common or garden cycle lane or pothole repair, they couldn't care less.

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to crazy-legs | 4 years ago
1 like

crazy-legs wrote:

Zjtm231 wrote:

Again and again and again Khan's actions speak louder than words. 

He couldn't give a flying fig about cycling - all who care about cycling in London should remember that when they vote at the next mayoral elections....

^^ This. I was quietly optimistic about Sadiq Khan at first but he's one of those dithery, do-nothing mayors. Always around to pop his face into a news bulletin or tweet some positive stuff about whatever happens to be flavour of the day but never actually doing anything. I mean, he seems a decent person, a nice enough guy but he's not exactly leading from the front here.

There were a couple of Cycle Superhighway schemes literally ready to go when he took over as Mayor and he quietly "paused" them for more consultations (read: excuses to cancel them). He's poked around with a couple of "flagship" schemes (Old Street roundabout for example) but done very little of actual worth towards the normal everyday getting around.

Sadly that's the same with a lot of politicians though. They're all super keen for the big fancy stuff (Garden Bridges, cable cars, huge tunnels) but when it comes to the common or garden cycle lane or pothole repair, they couldn't care less.

 

I do wonder whether his ordinary working-class (and migrant) background - something that made me positively-disposed to Khan when he first stood (my mum was very familiar with the council estate he grew up on and was of the view that if he grew up there he can't be out-of-touch with ordinary Londoners circumstances) - is, paradoxically, the reason for the risk-averse timidity that seems to be the weak point of his mayorship.  Someone from that background maybe has a tendency to feel insecure and opt for 'safety first' - as well as perhaps taking a kind of pride in personal status advancement that, just maybe, can slightly displace the point of the exercise when it comes to politics?

 

  It seems almost the exact opposite problem to Boris Johnson, who had, and has, such a vast surfeit of born-to-rule confidence and sense-of-entitlement that he just solipsistically pushes on with his vanity projects (though rarely seeing any of them through to successful completion) regardless of how bad an idea they turn out to be (as well as the garden bridge fiasco, and his dubious new bus design, let's not forget that watercannon he wasted a fortune on).

 

  Maybe the cycle infrastructure was the 'stopped clock, twice-a-day' moment with BJ?  The one time his vanity project coincided with something useful?  The rest of the time his embrace of big projects just led to waste and failure, and his stint as Foreign Secretary wasn't any better.

 

We just can't get a happy medium when it comes to the Mayor.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 4 years ago
2 likes

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

crazy-legs wrote:

Zjtm231 wrote:

Again and again and again Khan's actions speak louder than words. 

He couldn't give a flying fig about cycling - all who care about cycling in London should remember that when they vote at the next mayoral elections....

^^ This. I was quietly optimistic about Sadiq Khan at first but he's one of those dithery, do-nothing mayors. Always around to pop his face into a news bulletin or tweet some positive stuff about whatever happens to be flavour of the day but never actually doing anything. I mean, he seems a decent person, a nice enough guy but he's not exactly leading from the front here.

There were a couple of Cycle Superhighway schemes literally ready to go when he took over as Mayor and he quietly "paused" them for more consultations (read: excuses to cancel them). He's poked around with a couple of "flagship" schemes (Old Street roundabout for example) but done very little of actual worth towards the normal everyday getting around.

Sadly that's the same with a lot of politicians though. They're all super keen for the big fancy stuff (Garden Bridges, cable cars, huge tunnels) but when it comes to the common or garden cycle lane or pothole repair, they couldn't care less.

 

I do wonder whether his ordinary working-class (and migrant) background - something that made me positively-disposed to Khan when he first stood (my mum was very familiar with the council estate he grew up on and was of the view that if he grew up there he can't be out-of-touch with ordinary Londoners circumstances) - is, paradoxically, the reason for the risk-averse timidity that seems to be the weak point of his mayorship.  Someone from that background maybe has a tendency to feel insecure and opt for 'safety first' - as well as perhaps taking a kind of pride in personal status advancement that, just maybe, can slightly displace the point of the exercise when it comes to politics?

 

  It seems almost the exact opposite problem to Boris Johnson, who had, and has, such a vast surfeit of born-to-rule confidence and sense-of-entitlement that he just solipsistically pushes on with his vanity projects (though rarely seeing any of them through to successful completion) regardless of how bad an idea they turn out to be (as well as the garden bridge fiasco, and his dubious new bus design, let's not forget that watercannon he wasted a fortune on).

 

  Maybe the cycle infrastructure was the 'stopped clock, twice-a-day' moment with BJ?  The one time his vanity project coincided with something useful?  The rest of the time his embrace of big projects just led to waste and failure, and his stint as Foreign Secretary wasn't any better.

 

We just can't get a happy medium when it comes to the Mayor.

well, the bike schemes are not a big project by any standards, and they weren’t Boris’s project either, they were Ken’s. Boris has also claimed credit for the Olympics. He’s a vain, useless, narcissistic, incompetent twat and if anything good can come out of a horrible incident like the domestic that's being reported at the moment it would be to expose him (again!) for what he is, and remove him from the possibility of becoming Prime Minister. But I doubt the Tory Brexit membership scum care about women’s rights and domestic abuse any more than the Republicans in the USA do.

Sadiq Khan is right to query such a dramatic rise in costs and it would be remiss of him not to, especially in the light of the garden bridge fiasco. It’s Londoners’ money, ie my money, he’s spending. If a contractor quoted me a price for work then doubled it when he'd been awarded the contract, I’d bloody well  want an explanation.

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to ConcordeCX | 4 years ago
0 likes

ConcordeCX wrote:

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

crazy-legs wrote:

Zjtm231 wrote:

Again and again and again Khan's actions speak louder than words. 

He couldn't give a flying fig about cycling - all who care about cycling in London should remember that when they vote at the next mayoral elections....

^^ This. I was quietly optimistic about Sadiq Khan at first but he's one of those dithery, do-nothing mayors. Always around to pop his face into a news bulletin or tweet some positive stuff about whatever happens to be flavour of the day but never actually doing anything. I mean, he seems a decent person, a nice enough guy but he's not exactly leading from the front here.

There were a couple of Cycle Superhighway schemes literally ready to go when he took over as Mayor and he quietly "paused" them for more consultations (read: excuses to cancel them). He's poked around with a couple of "flagship" schemes (Old Street roundabout for example) but done very little of actual worth towards the normal everyday getting around.

Sadly that's the same with a lot of politicians though. They're all super keen for the big fancy stuff (Garden Bridges, cable cars, huge tunnels) but when it comes to the common or garden cycle lane or pothole repair, they couldn't care less.

 

I do wonder whether his ordinary working-class (and migrant) background - something that made me positively-disposed to Khan when he first stood (my mum was very familiar with the council estate he grew up on and was of the view that if he grew up there he can't be out-of-touch with ordinary Londoners circumstances) - is, paradoxically, the reason for the risk-averse timidity that seems to be the weak point of his mayorship.  Someone from that background maybe has a tendency to feel insecure and opt for 'safety first' - as well as perhaps taking a kind of pride in personal status advancement that, just maybe, can slightly displace the point of the exercise when it comes to politics?

 

  It seems almost the exact opposite problem to Boris Johnson, who had, and has, such a vast surfeit of born-to-rule confidence and sense-of-entitlement that he just solipsistically pushes on with his vanity projects (though rarely seeing any of them through to successful completion) regardless of how bad an idea they turn out to be (as well as the garden bridge fiasco, and his dubious new bus design, let's not forget that watercannon he wasted a fortune on).

 

  Maybe the cycle infrastructure was the 'stopped clock, twice-a-day' moment with BJ?  The one time his vanity project coincided with something useful?  The rest of the time his embrace of big projects just led to waste and failure, and his stint as Foreign Secretary wasn't any better.

 

We just can't get a happy medium when it comes to the Mayor.

well, the bike schemes are not a big project by any standards, and they weren’t Boris’s project either, they were Ken’s. Boris has also claimed credit for the Olympics. He’s a vain, useless, narcissistic, incompetent twat and if anything good can come out of a horrible incident like the domestic that's being reported at the moment it would be to expose him (again!) for what he is, and remove him from the possibility of becoming Prime Minister. But I doubt the Tory Brexit membership scum care about women’s rights and domestic abuse any more than the Republicans in the USA do.

Sadiq Khan is right to query such a dramatic rise in costs and it would be remiss of him not to, especially in the light of the garden bridge fiasco. It’s Londoners’ money, ie my money, he’s spending. If a contractor quoted me a price for work then doubled it when he'd been awarded the contract, I’d bloody well  want an explanation.

 

By 'the bike schemes' do you mean the hire-bikes (which I realise were Livingstone's project) or the last "cycle-superhighway" (stupid name, btw) efforts, which started to approach "not bad" at the end?  I gather that the latter owed a lot to grass-roots lobbying, but I wasn't aware they were anything to do with Livingstone.

 

For the cost of this bridge, true enough, though I'm not convinced Khan has put sufficient effort into finding a solution or getting the costs down (why does it cost so much?  Why do infrastructure projects cost such absurd amounts of money in our era?   However did the Victorians build a sewer system?).  Mostly though I'm unimpressed by that 'day to day' work, which has been mostly crap during Khan's time.  There have been multiple road-schemes that have missed the opportunity to do anything for cycling, and indeed have made things worse.

 

I still think he's been anything but dynamic, and I found it irritating when he kept diverting into playing internal Labour politics, as if he was more concerned with carefully positioning himself within the Party (as the 'sensible moderate' I guess) than with doing something for London.

 

What I _don't_ blame him for, is the alleged increase in knife crime.  I think that is down to factors beyond the Mayor's control, and it's dishonest of Tory ministers to try and shift the blame to him.  I'm actually not 100% convinced there even _is_ a crisis, as the murder rate figures (across all homicide methods) don't seem to show things getting dramatically worse than they were in previous decades.

Avatar
DaveE128 | 4 years ago
3 likes

But they still have £1bn for the new Silvertown road tunnel 

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